(No release date yet, but nearly all the character bits are complete. The GM and Monster sections will, as usual for me, be more complicated to serve. I’m shooting for a spring release of the playtest though.)

A long time ago I wrote an RPG called NAA D6. It was fairly playable if a bit esoteric in places. I liked a lot of the rules of that RPG, and since getting out of that minimalist rut I’d thought to trap myself in, I’ve brought back some of those rules. But today isn’t really about that. Instead, I’m going to post the “tutorial chapter” called “Character Generation Steps” which will summarize the character generation, then post a few examples of what you’ll be looking at in some of the sections. There will be no commentary on it, because I feel I’ve more or less exhausted my design commentary at this point. We sort of know the general goals here by now, and it feels like in each of these post I try to find a fifth leg on a cat for something to say. So here we go.

WARNING: Sword Girls visual spoilers at the end of the post. (Like you care.)

This section will guide you through the basic steps for building your Expedition character.

Step 0: Try to have a character in mind when you read the following section, to inform your decisions. What is this person like? What are his or her talents and goals? Is he or she well known, affluent? Has he or she had a hard life?

Step 1: Choose a character’s Titles. There are three types of Titles: Origin, Talent and Combat. Each will give your character basic but pivotal abilities in the game, as well as provide some inspiration for your character’s story.

Step 2: You have 100 Character Points at the start of the game, and can use these to buy Perks. You can only buy the first ability of any given Perk at character creation. Select Perks you find interesting and might develop in the future. You might want to list how your character earned his or her Perks, but it’s not necessary. Think of them as part of your character’s intrinsic abilities.

Step 3: You start the game with 100 Wealth to buy your starting equipment with. Try to spend as much of this wealth as possible. This is the equipment your character starts the game with – he or she might have inherited it, requisitioned it in the military, found it lying around, or just bought it. Once you’ve spent your starting wealth, you can do whatever you wish with the rest of the Wealth granted by your Titles. (If you have the Affluent Title you begin with 500 instead.)

Step 4: Wrap up your character by writing down the benefits of his or her Stamina Level and Magic Level. Your Titles offer boosts to each of these. Take note of your remaining Wealth and Reputation. Both of these scores can be spent within the game to gain benefits. Your character is essentially complete.

* * *

So let’s slap together some titles and perks and equipment really quick here.

I’ll be making a divine-like character that wears armor and hits people and maybe has a gun if I can swing it.

EXALTED (Origin)

Basic Values: 2 Stamina, 2 Magic, +20 Reputation, +50 Wealth.

Favored Skills: +2 Culture, +2 Strength, +2 Worship, +2 Expression

Life of Worship: You were born into, brought into, or volunteered for a life of religious devotion from a very young age. You are an ordained member of a religious order, initiated into its mysteries. You know divine magic, and one might say you even have a guardian spirit looking out for you. Once per event, you can reroll a single failed roll and use the new result. Once per expedition, at an appropriate time chosen by the GM, your character has vague prophetic vision or dream of future events (the vision must be of something that has a chance to come true), which gives you an Edge point in addition to the cryptic information.

The all-important Exalted title gives not too shabby stamina, magic, rep, wealth and other goodies.

AUTHORITY (Talent)

Basic Values: +1 Stamina

Favored Skills: +1 Awareness, +1 Expression

Great Authority: You are well versed in laws and politics, and can count on your connections to render services to you for less personal cost. Your words, promises and person go farther than others. Boons cost you 10 less Reputation than normal: so Minor Boons cost you 15 Reputation, Major Boons cost you 40, and Greater Boons cost you 90. You can gain two Greater Boons in a single Expedition, if you have the Reputation to afford them, rather than the limit of one. You earn +1d5 Reputation whenever a Deed would award you Reputation.

I’m a magical religious figure, so please listen to me when I ask for something.

SENTINEL (Combat)

Infinite Vigil: You wear the largest armor you can get your hands on, and stay in the fight for as long as you possibly can. You have +10 Armor and +1 Resistance in Heavy Apparel. Bonuses you gain last 1 extra round.

I really want to hear heavy armor even if I can’t afford the very bestest ones at character creation.

SUPPORTER (Perk)

[50 CP]: If you’re a Support character in an event, your successful Support rolls give a +1 bonus to Active characters in addition to reducing penalties by 1

I like being helpful in some situations more than taking charge, and there’s some stuff for me!

IMPROVE MAGIC (Perk)

[50 CP]: You gain +1 Magic Level. The maximum Magic level is 10.

Now both my stamina and my magic levels are at 3. This is nice, though not strictly necessary.

There is actually only one way to get level 10 stamina or level 10 magic, and never both.

Now for my equipment. I have 150 wealth.

A sword, because why not?

Everyone should have a gun and smashy bit, it should be the law because it is so cool.

Also everyone starts the game with some free bullets.

I use my remaining wealth for the cheapest heavy armor and the cheapest clothes.

Normally the Greatcoat isn’t all that incredible, but with Sentinel, it’s right up there with armor that costs three times as much as it does. And if I really want to wear the greatcoat all of my adventuring career, I can improve its Quality, which will grant it a few boosts. Quality items are pretty rare, so our little-coat-that-could would likely be as good as plate armor worn by the evil henchmen of that endgame necromancer lich thing we’re gonna be fighting.

As for what Concealed means, since you’ve seen it twice: it means that the enemy can’t judge whether you’re armed or armored well if you’re using concealed-type armor and weapons. So if you’re walking into a situation where it’s imperative that you look unarmed, concealed stuff is the way to go. You wouldn’t think someone in a big coat is that well protected. Of note though – Heavy size weapons cannot be concealed, so when I buy the weapons, I’ll choose to make it all Light size. Light and Heavy is really a matter of which Perks you want to buy. Heavy and Light weapons have different Perks. Oh, we also get some Free rations, water and salves to begin the game but we don’t care about that.

Well, that’s everything I wanted to show you today.

Hmm, what am I picturing here…I guess it’s roughly this.

Luthica from Sword Girls Card Game. Art is from the Follower card "Luthica, Enemy of the Church." Which is kind of ironic I guess.

Adelians have collected untold thousands of artifacts from the Lost World, but none seem to shine light toward the enigmatic origins of the Human servitors known as Cephaetera, “Coordinators.” Some Adelians believe that Humans loathed their own forms and sought a perfection of shape in their creations, and this might have resulted in the quizzical forms of the coordinators, the elves, and perhaps even other prototypical humanoid races that could’ve been precursors to modern Adelians. Such theories are often regarded with widespread controversy. But one must wonder why the central nerve engine of a collective of genocidal machines has a need to appear beautiful, and as human-like as the Adelians and Elves themselves. Athael is one such interesting specimen. Perfect of form, but bearing a ruinous power over the Angels.

Origin

While the ultimate origin and conception of the Angels is a mystery lost to time thanks to the Cataclysm, Athael’s own origin is not such. It is one of the few Cephaetera known by the Adelians to be active, and who has survived various skirmishes with expedition groups, city garrisons, mage research teams and other Adelians whom it has met. Athael was first discovered within an ancient temple of the humans in Emderuer, on the edge of the Noshiki wasteland. A group of delvers braved the depths of the site, through crumbling and upturned hallways, sliding down paths where stone had twisted into spiral, or climbing up pathways that were once perfectly straight. Within the vast depths of the temple, the group uncovered an area where the rock walls became pristine, reflective metal. As though stepping into an entirely different world, they found themselves in a mechanical hub, where various broken-down pods held dead Cephaetera, their bodies long since rotted away by time.

One pod remained untouched, however. The delvers thought to destroy it – but unfortunately for them, they were not the only ones with an eye towards the temple. The group had been stalked by Diesel Society operatives, who wanted to claim the technology in the temple for their nefarious organization. A battle ensued within the chrome halls of the undertemple. The two groups fought viciously, the delvers wanting nothing more than the destruction of a dangerous artifact, while the diesel society lusted after the secrets it might hold. During the battle, the pod was unknowingly activated. Ancient sensors and logic nodes brimmed with renewed life. The liquid in the pod drained, and calibration needles sunk into the Cephaetera’s body at key points, restarting its elemental core, stimulating its synthetic muscles, shock-starting its organ systems.

The glass on the pod blew open, and Athael stood again. Both groups turned their attention to it – the delvers firing upon it, and the diesel society pleading for it to lead them to a new age of machines. Athael quickly matched their bioform and energy field readings to the vast, collected knowledge of the Angels, kept safe within the orbiting satellites. In an instant it knew that it was faced with Adelians. Moments later, it walked over their mutilated bodies and out of the temple, standing on little but a rock from its own past and overlooking an alien present. There was much work ahead of it.

Appearance

Most angels have completely robotic forms, but Athael and Cephaetera like it are much more insidious. Their bodies are humanoid, deceptively androgynous and usually slim, with often startlingly beautiful faces and quite realistic synthetic heads of hair, and deep eyes that Adelians would be fooled into thinking suggest a soul. The body is covered in a rubber-like polymer suit, with a high neckline and long sleeves. These are not clothes, but a layer of skin – ripped off, there is a pallid, wet, somewhat squishy underlayer, and underneath is the first layer of robotic plating and mechanisms. The face often has skin off-color with the rest, either too pale for the black polymer or too dark for the squishy secondary layer, so a Cephaetera without Adelian clothes is likely to be discovered quite quickly for what it is. However, there have been reports of more expertly and naturally disguised Cephaetera. Athael is not one of them – it does not want to socialize with Adelians.

Athael is a quicker, lighter-bodied Cephaetera, its limbs slender and its form elegant. Most Cephaetera are such, though a few are distinctly built and physically imposing. Regardless of its size, Athael could pick up an adult Adelian by the neck and throw it across a room like it were raising a newspaper off the floor and binning it. Its face has two green, almost jewel-like eyes. Upon close examination they seem to adjust, as though the cornea and pupil were composed of shifting pieces of glass. Its long pale hair looks normal, save for the tiny technological ornaments hanging from certain tufts. These little globes are actually environment sensors that help regulate Athael’s body temperature depending on the climate. Athael has no ears, so it could not pass for a Iomadi without a pair of fake ears of some animal or another, and it also has no tail.

Personality

Athael is a callous, mechanically-minded creature with only a single directive – the extermination of all Adelian life, and the reversing of the changes brought about by the cataclysm. While both tasks are seemingly impossible, and neither of them will bring the Humans back from extinction, Athael is bound to them to its very core. There is no action Athael can take that does not put it a step closer to these ultimate goals. It is efficient, ruthless and highly intelligent. It has no capacity to care or empathize with Adelians. Each is a conglomerate of proteins that has failed to arrange itself in the specific genetic code of a human being. While the Adelians might look like its old masters, that has never and will never matter.

Its subordinate machines are also just that: subordinates and tools. While some Cephaetera manage to develop a sort of bond with the constituent machines of the great Angel hierarchy, Athael has none. Each exopoda, regardless of its bio-synthetic brain and high thinking functions, is just a tool. If it is told to, it will launch itself against the enemy and be destroyed. Its loss will not be mourned, and its victory not celebrated. If necessary it will be scavenged or cannibalized to build a more effective machine. Athael is aware only of itself and its directive. Even its own body is disposable if necessary.

Abilities

As an Angel Cephaetera, Athael has a number of incredible weapons at its disposal. In its basic form, its svelte body hides a pair of small jump jets on its back, assisted by foot jets. It has arrowlance railguns hidden in each of its arms. Unlike every other angel, the Cephaetera is capable of ancient magic, assisted by its internal core. At a moment’s notice it can raise shields to absorb attacks, consume its enemies in fireballs, or launch a barrage of arcane missiles.

Athael can also link its body to a sturdy suit of ancient Powered-Armor, which gives it a pair of rockets for powered flight, as well as two brimstone (plasma) cannons underslung to its arms. The powered armor adds girth and strength to the Cephaetera’s body, as well as supplying additional power to its core and processing abilities.

Boasting an internal uplink to the remnants of the human Satellite network in orbit around Adel, the Cephaetera has access to some surveillance functions, a connection to the remnants of the Human Internet that serves as it vast knowledge base, and it can theoretically call upon a low-orbit ion cannon strike. This last feature requires the additional processing ability of various other angelic servitors. Furthermore, the satellite’s position has to be recalibrated, a time-consuming process which Athael must remain focused to coordinate. In the middle of a battle, this may be difficult to do.

Of course, Athael also has a small army of angel robots to help it, mostly the low-walking exopoda spider drones. Should it manage to find more Angel vaults, or a way to crash at least a few of the untold thousands that still float perilously and aimlessly in the Adelian stratosphere, it could be quite a dangerous commander.

Goals

Athael’s goals are simple: the elimination of Adelians and the changing of the climate. Athael remembers a world with a horrendously polluted atmosphere, boiled oceans, alien synthetic plants that were the only living things capable of existing on the depleted soil, and vast inky clouds covering a purple-ish sky. This is the world where the Humans painstakingly created it, and it is gone. Perhaps there are still ways to slowly return it. Though this will ultimately do no good, it is what Athael knows – the environment needs “maintenance” and many systems all over what is now Adel are broken. It must uncover them and fix them. Along the way, any Adelians who intrude upon its task will be dealt with brutally.

Advanced But Dependent

Villages in Adel blend in with the wilderness. Often, those villages have occupied the same land since time immemorial. Each of those villages is a small but unique people with a vast history that most Adelians consider worth protecting and cherishing. Cities are not like that. Cities and towns were established as people met at crossroads, as explorers left their ancestral homes, and as cultures began to blend. Cities allow for goods to flow from various corners of the world, by offering protection, resupply and shelter to masses of traders. They were established outside nature, and they keep a firm line between themselves and nature. They cannot integrate their larger homes, paved or cobblestone streets, sewer systems and other amenities with nature, and they require their large size to serve their function as havens for commerce.

The way of life in the city is one of commerce, of wages, of exchanges between people who have different wants and needs than those of the villagers. Cities foster trade, as well as the growth of knowledge, through specialized education and training. Villagers are fairly educated and some even quite intelligent for their circumstances – but it is unheard of that a villager can live his or her entire life studying, and writing books, and focusing only on the intellectual. It is rare for a villager to be able to focus only on the arts, or the sciences. Every villager must labor for the community to thrive. On their days off, and when their seasons end and there is less of the essential labors to perform, they might pursue other interests. But it is a given that foraging, hunting, farming, hauling and crafts must be done, for the community to survive.

Cities are advanced in many ways, yet in the most key way they are still dependent on the smaller units of civilization. For a city-slicker, it is difficult to grow food. Food must be purchased, and those from whom it is purchased must acquire it from somewhere else. So the cities need villages, with which they can trade for food. Many cities have farm lands near them, but essentially these farm lands are villages – their laborers live by village ways, and expect their traditions never to be disturbed or upturned. Cities need the villages and mutual respect is needed for them to survive and thrive. Villages are the breadbasket of the world, and however great and vast a city is, it cannot survive alone.

Socially Stratified Living

In a village, everybody shares resources which, by ancestral compacts, they believe to be the property of the Guardian Spirit (whoever that Spirit happens to be at any given period of time, owns the land, the food, and so on). The Guardian Spirit then shares the bounty with the villagers equally. It is essentially a form of religious socialism, because the Guardian Spirit generally has no need for any of the things the villagers declare to be its property – all it needs is the worship, respect and security it finds living with the villagers. Many spirits are curious about worldly trinkets, and enjoy being well-dressed and aptly fed, but there isn’t a Guardian Spirit who would hoard its villager’s riches; it would only bring ruin upon itself. So essentially, everybody shares what they need or want and they go about life without much sense of material turmoil.

Cities in Adel do not operate on this, though there are some veins of socialistic thought running through them. In a city, you must engage in commerce to acquire goods. You must perform a service that others, who have what you want or need, find important enough to give you some of their goods or wealth (in coin, the purchasing potential) in return. You are not entitled to habitation or to food – albeit, Adelians have a concept of honorable charity and will often allow a stranger some shelter from rain and some food, though not usually for very long, and not usually for repeat visits. You earn your keep by contributing to the economy and development of the city, its culture and arts, its people and projects. Your part of the whole in a community is not inherently important as it is in a village. This can come as a shock for villagers who relocate.

The truly Wealthy in civilization got to be that way either through guile, through fortune, through inheritance from an ancient and storied line, or through underhandedness. Their success is replicable, but not easily so. Their ancestors or predecessors might have discovered key routes and goods to trade, or exploited old laws, or established services at key periods of time to maximize their fortunes, and hand them down along the family. In short it takes some effort, whether good or bad, and a fair bit of luck and guile to become rich. Fortunes may wane, and newly-monied folk may rise. But this is likely to be a slow process requiring much dedication – there are no easy ways to wealth, not even for the adventurous.

Since wealth cannot be achieved overnight, there are stratified economic classes – commoners either living within their means or dreaming big, petite-bourgeois who like to believe that they are on their way to glory and riches, and the truly elite who need only work to maintain or grow their already large fortunes. Individuals deal with these affairs quite differently. Some people are nasty about it, hating the upper or lower class, while others treat everyone the same, and still more wish to share the virtues of their ways with those unaware. Many Adelians believe in a concept called “Kripaa” or “neighborlyness” where people in a city or town try to treat each other well. A wealthy person may throw parties where anybody is invited, or personally invite poorer neighbors to a meal – while another might be insular and nasty toward common folk. A poor person might be courteous and inviting of a wealthier one, or may be rude and violent at the mere sign of wealth.

It is rare to find completely hungry and homeless folk in Adelian cities, despite this – except perhaps in Periterim and Emderuer, who are far less charitable than other Nations. In most of Adel, there are a variety of programs intended to help people who are completely down on their luck. The military and guards are always happy to put someone to work, and there is a form of welfare paid in scrips of paper that can be sought at the government office, credits that can give someone temporary food and shelter. The government office is always ready to give people work, usually either fairly dangerous work requested by affiliates like the Archeological Society, or hard labor in maintaining roads or building structures.

Political Power, Rule of Law

Adel is not an iron-age lawless wasteland. Might does not make right. Slaying a dragon does not entitle one to a princess to marry, nor to a political title. It will make one popular, should the deeds be brought to light. And it will certainly, if the dragon was an evil creature, bestow reputation and good character upon the slayer. But ultimately, it is not an act which redefines power. It is not a politically crowning achievement, even if it might be a socially uplifting one.

In villages, law is traditional. Disputes are settled not by courts but by the community. Village crime is fairly low, and when it occurs it is often petty theft or non-lethal brawls. Villagers grow up believing themselves a needed part of a community, and their wants and needs are generally looked after by everyone. They are like one large extended family in this sense, so there’s rarely any fatal or cruel crime among them. When there is it is often from an outside source. Regardless, the Guardian Spirit of a village tends to investigate and resolve crimes, and settle disputes there, and law is not codified.

Civilization has laws, written, amended and arbitrated by people specially trained for the task. Villages have a few guards along with their able-bodied hunters and foragers to try to protect them; towns and cities have whole outposts of the national military, ranging from a simple barracks to a whole fortification. Guards alone do not uphold the law. Since the Intolerable War, which led to the militarization of civilian police, introducing the concept of the “guard” forces, the power of Guards to enforce the law alone has been reduced. By his or her self, a Guard can only detain a civilian for a day. Their power is shared with the Arbiters, part lawyer and part investigator. An Arbiter examines a case, and once brought in, the sentence for the detainee may be increased so that Arbiter can have enough time to investigate safely. The Guard and Arbiter work together to collect evidence and present a case. As for the detainee, he or she is represented by the Arbiter Superior of a territory, and his or her staff, who guarantee certain basic rights and scrutiny to the accused, and insure the due process of justice and law.

Each Nation has its own structure of political power that should be kept in mind.

Andaliel: Andaliel is a congressional republic, a democracy, governed by the Exalted Congress. The Exalted Congress is directly voted for every five years by people from several different “districts” of Andaliel, often vaguely-defined political units meant to give the whole of the Nation proper representation. The Exalted Congress’ first duty once elected is to select a President of Congress from among the various governors, mayors, arbiters, or other political agents who are popular and trusted by the people. The President cannot be selected from the Congress itself. The President has certain powers, and the Congress and Arbiters’ Courts have certain powers, and together they rule. Each town has a mayor, and each city has a Governor. Each town and city also has Arbiters and Guards. Villages, on the other hand, have no such political agents.

Emderuer: Emderuer is an Imperial power, ruled by the Emperor Under The Sun. His word is law, and as such, law is often difficult to amend, or to update for modernity. The Emperor has various representatives in the different parts of Emderuer. While Emderuer functions much like any other nation, with Guards and Arbiters and such, the law is much stricter in Emderuer. Petitions and requests are oft ignored, and the government is sluggish to act or react. Once known as the Aptoan Empire, and one defeated by the whole of the world, Emderuer is a shell of its former self.

Periterim: Periterim is ruled by an oligarchy and is essentially a Plutocracy. The rich control the land, enact its laws, and divide the nation among themselves. It is in their best interests to work together to grow and maintain their wealth, and control their people so that things don’t get too out of hand – but if one rational actor ever believes this state of affairs is not profitable, chaos could possibly ensue. Periterim is the least socially conscious nation, with a coin’s toss chance of the government helping out anybody, and little in the way of social aid for the poor, or respect for them.

Sargasso: Sargasso is a monarchy, but a more organized government than Emderuer. There are a variety of lower level officials, known as “nobles,” who have some say in their local affairs, such as Dukes and Duchesses, Marquises and Marchionesses, and so forth, following complicated lines of succession. While their political genealogy is confused, their powers are not. These officials share some powers under the Queen’s supreme control, with the Order of the Seraphim and the Church of Sargasso also having some say, and generally, if one needs help, there are plenty of ways to get it soon. Sargasso’s government is more responsive than Emderuer’s or Periterim’s, and also kinder and more respectful to its people.

Vedaria: Vedaria is essentially a dictatorship. Though it was at first ruled by a long line of Viziers, powerful Warlords who united the Nation, the Viziership has as of 10 years ago been upturned by a coup d’etat orchestrated by Magdalena Keehl, who is now the People’s Supreme Caretaker, or dictator. Unlike the Viziers, Magdalena does not consider herself a Warlord. She is an intellectual, and has brought Vedaria to the forefront of the world stage with new ideas, new organization, and even drafted a bill of rights that limits her own powers and those of her officials. It is also immutable if she is alone – it requires the cooperation of Magisters, appointed officials in each district of the Nation. Magdalena was inspired by Andaliel in some ways, but finds it flawed in others. Her restructuring of government has made Vedaria a much better place to live, and its people happier than they have ever been. The government responds to them fairly, at a good pace, and there is social welfare.

Western Sea Powers: In the Western Sea, we have two smaller nations with some unique governments. Cressia is ruled by a Triumvirate of powers from different geographic regions. The Council of the Plains, the Throne of the Mountain and the Seat of the Sea are three distinct political and regional units, and each of their representatives (the Council as a whole, the King of the Mountain, and the Seer of the Sea) rules not only their own territory, but the whole of the land together, if all works well. If not, then you have the Cressian Civil War as happened a few years back. Oerst is ruled by a union of Dragons and Adelians. The King of Oerst is bonded to the Queen of Dragons, and while they model their system on Sargasso, all nobility in Oerst must be legitimized by a coupling with a Dragon. This is a unique, long-standing tradition.

Eastern Sea Powers: The Eastern Sea is a lot more unruly, with numerous smaller island nations and no very large powers. While the Treize Archipelago once adhered to the Council of Twelve, which consisted of the twelve largest island-nations ruling the Eastern Sea together, they have of late splintered and battled, and even made allies of the pirates and brigands who, themselves, are political units operating out of forlorn and previously uninhabited island territories. However, of late, in the North near Andaliel, the democratic nation has been at work helping to protect and mold a growing power in the Eastern sea, the snowy sea nations of the Fern Archipelago, which are a single constitutional monarchy.

Example: The City of Impel

Location: Impel is a city in the central region of Andaliel, just on the edge of the Southland. As such it is a crossroads for trade and travel to all of Andaliel, but particularly, the breadbasket of the Nation. The Southland is a vast and rich territory full of villages who grow crops that most of the northern territories, with their harsher climates, find more difficult to grow. The capital imports a lot of food, for example, on fast autowagons and airships that can deliver it on time for citizens to consume. As such, Impel is an incredibly important point for both South and North lands. Impel occupies a broad plain between the delineating forests of the south, and the rolling hills that make up a lot of the north.

Layout: Impel is a massive city divided into four coterminous quadrants, as a whole surrounded by defensive walls. There are four gates into the city, at each of the cardinal directions. Adelians believe this layout to bring fortune, and many of their cities are arranged in such a manner, though superstitions about city-building abound. There is a small barracks at each of the gates and four towers, one at each connecting corner of the ramparts. There are a few open plazas near the entrances, around which homes and businesses are arrayed. Likewise, the more profitable spaces are those near the main roads directly from each gate, where various grand storefronts call in fresh visitors funneled down the main roads.

Architecture: Impel began as a series of close, square habitations built from clay bricks. It has since expanded its size and many of the oldest homes have been reinforced with harder stone or concrete block. The city as a whole has a very earthen, sun-baked look to its buildings. Many are simple in shape, but have decorations and engravings such as calligraphy, flourishes and contoured corners and edges. Some buildings have cupolas, especially the larger ones, and some of the more lavish private homes, however small, will have a private shrine or prayer garden. Small one or two story storefronts and homes and small visitor’s shelters tend to flank the main roads, with larger and bars and inns near the plazas.

As mentioned before, there are a few open plazas, broad spaces with gardens and dome kiosks where passersby can sit out the sun or rain and admire beautiful flowers or majestic local (and some, not quite so local) plants and birds. The city pays its respects to nature by promoting it even within the walls that mean to keep it out. These soft-earthed, clear areas break up the comparatively tight and narrow main streets and roads and are a favored destination for performers. Most of the plazas are ringed by Inns, bars and shelters where visitors can sleep or seek all manner of entertainment.

City Features: As the “Crown Jewel of the Northeast” (in a continental sense – to Andalians it’s smack dab in the center) Impel has many facilities common to most developed cities and large towns in Adel. It also has many that aren’t so common. Examining a few, we can relate the larger story of Adelian planning and community.

Public Bathhouse: There are a couple of fairly roomy public bathhouses in Impel, often divided into “cold water” and “warm water” bathhouses. The bathhouses have unisex and segregated bathing options, but no really private options – you’ll be taking to the water along with a variety of folk. But Adelians as a whole are a lot less conflicted about their bodies than most cultures an observer might know – they are not too shy about sharing a bath. However, for those that are, there are some for-profit private bathhouses in business as well, which have exclusive, rented bathrooms.

Storefronts: From Zuri Makavana‘s Potion Shop, to an affiliate of the Elster-Klaus Gunsmiths, various stores in Impel exists to cater to every whim, and some, to all whims at once. The prime spots are along the main road, but hidden gems can be found through the alleys, and special stores may even open up only at night. A variety of Inns, Bars and “private venues” also exist which cater to the weary traveler, parched visitor, and lonely wanderer.

Bazaar: Like bathhouses, this is another common feature to Adelian cities and towns. The Bazaar is a large plaza devoted exclusively for traders large and small to set up their wagons, kiosks or carpets and peddle their wares, trading, buying, selling and hoping to score a profit. Most bazaar spaces are small, but Impel is a major trading city, and its grand bazaar has wares from every corner of the Adelian continent, and from each of the two Seas.

Guilds: Impel has guild houses where trades and professions of all kinds are practiced, and trainees can earn their licensing and the support of experts craftsfolk, doctors, or what have you. Not all places have all guilds. Some towns are more known for their smithing than for their medicine, and so on, but Impel houses every profession and trade one might imagine, due to its demand for these necessary services – and the demand from nearby towns.

Theater: Impel has a few competing theaters. For a Theater these days, it’s not just about plays, acting and instruments, but also about technology. Along with the usual epic plays, romance plays, orchestral concertos and hymnodies, Theaters now have a few unique shows. With the advent of phonographs and mutoscopes, and Adelian affection and wonderment at these pieces of technology, big city Theaters have had to innovate a bit to defeat their competitors.

The theaters in Impel offer “picture shows” which are given in mutoscope boxes. The box holds one or two people in a seat, and together they watch a moving picture show through a pair of binocular scopes. Picture shows are very popular and come in all sorts of popular genres, with more made every few months. Audio can be added to picture shows by synchronizing a phonograph player with the picture show mechanism. This is exceedingly complicated. A picture show, however, is fairly affordable for a civilian to watch, unlike a full stage production.

Sewers: Impel was not built where it is just as a coincidence. Impel used to be the site of a Lost World ruin, and the Adelians who founded it cleared the site, and then mostly ignored some important amenities there. Since the Intolerable War, renewed interest led to the discovery and study of an ancient, advanced sewer system beneath Impel. Houses can be connected to the system by the Artificer’s Guild, which maintains it at the behest of the governor’s office.

The Adelians have very vague ideas of how the system works, and how to effectively maintain it. But as with most Lost World things, they are canny enough to manage. The Impel Water System works using powerful geothermal water cycling and waste disposal, and a series of advanced filters that were miraculously undamaged by the cataclysm. Water and waste are drawn down by pipes that seem to go forever into a chasm, comes back up again to fuel the Adelian’s need for cleanliness. The Adelians have no idea where any of the wastes go, and the sewer system is barely explored, though a recent upswelling of curiosity has led to renewed expeditions into the sewer. Some Angel activity has been reported.

Many cities in Adel have some kind of foundation on Lost World architecture. Most people are unaware of this and just marvel at the fresh water, and the “easing houses” where they can peacefully relieve themselves. Those who do know, begrudgingly set aside their distrust of machines for the sake of this simple convenience.

Governor’s Estate: The vast estate of the governor boasts two large minnarets that can be seen almost anywhere in the city, as well as a vast and ornate cupola. A plaza surrounds the estate, which is known as the Eye of Impel, where the current governor and staff watch over the city in the Exalted Congress’ stead. Most towns have a mayor, but the larger cities have governors instead, and a large staff that can draft ordinances, and see to the requests of the citizens.

Airship Dock, Mobile Battlegroup Vehicle Yard, Riverside Port: Just outside the northern gate, the Airship Dock provides space for airships to land. It has a few raised concrete structures for airships to remain without touching ground, which they are not adequately built to do. A bit south of Impel, along the Yanya river, there is a very small port town called Shish, established essentially to funnel river trade up to Impel. Finally, just to the east of Impel, is a small village where the 5th Mobile Battlegroup “Gryphon” is established. The village is not only one of many food growers for Impel, it is also a specialty village where craftsfolk, once known for their ship building, work on building and consecrating vehicles for Gryphon. The villagers and Gryphon are both sworn to protect Impel, and the key strategic position that it occupies.

Thus, there are a lot of ways one might travel to Impel.

If you have any suggestions or curiosities for words that should be up here, ask away.

Everyday Speech

Namaste!: The most common greeting in Adel.

Spirits defend!: The most common exclamation in Adel. Can also be said like “spirits defend you” or “spirits defend us all” and such variations, again as a general exclamation in a variety of contexts. You might cry “Spirits defend!” when you are afraid and then when you are relieved, for example. It is quite versatile.

Spirits blight!: A common curse in Adel. Can be used by itself, or directed at someone or something, such as “spirits blight you!” or “spirits blight everything!” as a kind of exasperated expletive.

Spirits raise!: A common expression of gratitude or friendliness, directed at someone. “Spirits raise you,” for example. The inclusive form “spirits raise us all” is hardly ever used.

Bless: Basically a common affirmative response. Adelians still use “yes,” but Bless is a more formal word.

Rue: A common negative response. Adelians still use “no,” and especially words incorporating it such as “not” and “nothing” but Rue is a more formal word when you must decline or disagree.

Tail!: A cry for personal space, usually if someone bumps into you, or of course, touches your tail. Iomadi and Damakran have tails, but Cuporo and Droemedae don’t – regardless everyone uses the expression, since the Iomadi are the most prolific of the races, and they’ve propagated most of their figures of speech.

Professions And Ranks

Civil and Military

Villager: The average Adelian is a villager, living in the rural communes from which Adelian civilization began, and which are still its most widespread and prevalent expression. Villagers live in communities composed of tents or huts near natural resources which they carefully use and help propagate and care for. Most villages have contact with towns or even cities, so they know of the advancements society has made. They might even own a few useful technologies (everything in a village is owned by its Guardian Spirit and given to the villagers to use – it’s a sort of religious socialism), such as an autowagon, and they usually own guns and have their own (small) guard contingents. But they tend to prefer living within nature.

Arbiter: A lawyer of sorts, also doubling as a detective. Guards or soldiers and Arbiters work together to uphold the laws – a Guard alone can only arrest someone for a day, and an Arbiter can only make citizen’s arrests. But together they can bring someone to court for prosecution, or detain them longer than a day.

Alchemist: An herbalist or apothecary, making a living through the sale of useful and healthy potions and medicines. Each nation has a list of potions, ingredients and substances that can be made, drank, and traded, and there are quite a number of legal concoctions that a smart alchemist can make and sell for a decent living.

Bard: A general word for an artist, usually a performer, but can also mean a writer, or a painter.

Guard: A member of the local police and defense force. Because of their militarization after the Intolerable War, their police powers are split with the Arbiters to prevent corruption and injustice.

Pioneer: A military engineer. They drive and touch up vehicles, as well as plan out the layout of encampments, the positioning of emplacements and defenses, and the placement of any traps or obstacles.

Grenadier: The average infantry soldier. They tend to have a gun and a sword or mace, and dress in uniform with armored vests worn over it. The army requires initial three-year terms for all soldiers. A person who has served the initial term can become a guard, or leave the army with the ability to return later, at the same rank.

Sentinel: A heavily-armored infantry soldier. Can also refer to just the armored suit.

Magically-Inclined

Academy Mage: An arcane magic-user affiliated and licensed by an official arcane college. Without this affiliation, a mage is subject to more rules and restrictions on his or her magic use. With it, some restrictions are lifted, such as the ban on sales of exotic substances (potions), but the Academy must take responsibility for the wrong-doing of the mage. Many of these changes came about due to, basically, snake oil salesfolk tricking people in cities.

Student Mage: A Mage between 12 and 20 years old who has completed the basic curriculum of an arcane college, and has provisional status as an Academy Mage, but is not yet one in full. Most are kids.

Artificer: A licensed mechanical inventor, someone who has authorization from an academic institution that allows them to innovate and invent new machines. After creating something, they must fully describe to the authorities the rituals by which it was blessed and made safe to use, and what its purpose is, and submit to judgment.

Initiate: A new member of a religious organization, not yet fully capable of divine magic. Initiates are not allowed to wear robes that have sleeves on them, or that are too long, except in the winter.

Oblate: An established member of a religious organization, and allowed to travel on “pilgrimage” for certain established periods of time, to religious destinations all over the continent. Oblates can use magic.

Cherubim: An Initiate of the Seraphim. Cherubim are always girls (no biological males can become Seraphim) and usually between 9 and 16 years of age. They are strong and capable in many ways despite their age. They can do magic, they are about as athletic as the average adult if not more so, and they are quite resilient.

Seraphim: The only Order on Adel which can be considered knightly or paladin-like are the Seraphim, a storied organization in Sargasso where women undergo a powerful investment and swear to serve Sargasso. Seraphim are stronger, faster and more resilient than average folk, and have better magical ability and equipment.

Everyday Measurements

Though I don’t make it a point to use Adelian measurements in the articles, in my fiction stories I will use them since that is how Adelians talk. The measurements are not exact, but work out for the imagination.

Pebble: Each Pebble is roughly an ounce in our measurements.

Ore: Each Ore is roughly a pound (16 Pebbles) in our measurements.

Lode: Each Lode is a ton (2500 Ores) in our measurements.

Span: Each Span is roughly an inch in our measurements.

Step: Each Step is roughly a foot (12 spans) in our measurements.

Stride: Each Stride is roughly a yard (36 spans, 3 steps) in our measurements.

Wing: Each Wing is roughly half a mile in distance in our measurements (2500 or so steps).

Flight: Each Flight is roughly a mile in distance in our measurements (5000 or steps).

Horizon: Each Horizon is roughly 100 miles in distance in our measurements (500,000 or so steps).

Vehicles And Weapons

Arcane Engine: A magic engine design that works by burning arcane reagents, and generating raw “magic power” – kinetic force – that causes movement. Physically the engine is a box, with its sides carved in the shapes of certain necessary sigils, and its interior is made of three different ores. Rubbery “veins” transfer energy throughout the engine, and outside it. If the veins are cut, the engine will stop projecting energy through to whatever it was connected to.

Autowagon: Essentially a car, with significant variances. Adelians put the driver in the back of the car, regulating the arcane engine, and using a set of mirrors, or directions from passengers, to drive. The driver’s niche is a cramped space filled with knobs and pulleys and turn-wheels, and of course mirrors, that is not all that comfortable to work in. Autowagons are convenient, but difficult to drive and especially to turn. When you think of an Autowagon, don’t think of a Ford Model T or a modern car: think more an armored personnel carrier. Essentially a moving contoured box.

Golem: An Adelian Golem is any vehicle with a shape inspired by a biological lifeform, such as a legged walking vehicle. Golems are powered by arcane engines, but instead of using controls like an Autowagon or Landship, a Golem is magically-controlled by a Mage pilot, who moves the Golem as though it were his or her own body.

Landship: Essentially in our lingo a Landship would be a tank. It is a tracked armored vehicle made from exotic Adelian metals (though in a pinch, anything will do to make or reinforce one). The landship has a main body with a crew compartment, in which a crew controls the tank, and munitions are kept for the tank turret which has full 360 degree rotation. The back of the tank is vulnerable – the arcane engine is there, and shots that penetrate will cause it to burst in a small kinetic shockwave that will likely hurt the crew, though usually not outright kill them by itself. I imagine them to be modeled after World War 2 tank designs like the Tetrarch, Sherman and Tiger, but if you like other designs better you can imagine those. It essentially does not matter exactly what they look like, at least not more than their overall function.

The inside of the Landship is a cramped crew quarter with a lot of switches, pedals, wheel-levers, normal levers and the cannon opening and cannon-crank in the turret niche (pulling on it shoots the cannon). The Arcane Engines and driving mechanisms used in landships are a lot more complex than those in golems, because you can’t simply have a mage for every landship – you need normal, non-magic folk to control it with their hands and feet.

Airship: An Airship is any kind of flying vessel that is roughly inspired by a sailing vessel. Airships have simple convex shapes, seemingly rectangular but with a sloping front, about 75 degrees or so. The front slope has a cross-shaped steel mount through which the main cannon appears, and which helps to guide it. The top of an airship (the “deck”) has pillboxes and rails, but while the airship is flying the deck is only used to fight off boarding actions. Rather, the life of the crew occurs inside the airship’s compartments. Airships are powered by arcane engines, and if the force projectors (dish-like protrusions mounted outside the ship) are fatally damaged, the ship will lose altitude and eventually crash.

“25-Ore”: The Adelian designation for the power of a cannon. It refers to the size of the Shell it fires. 25-Ore cannons fire roughly 25 lb shells. That is about mid-range in land cannons. A portable cannon would be about 10-ore, while the cannon on a small landship or on an autowagon would be about 15-ore. The largest land vehicle cannons are 50-ore, on Heavy Landships. Artillery cannons could go up to 75-Ore, while the 100-ore cannon only exists on Airships.

One such site is the “Vagarasi Vidhasta,” a large, sunken ruin that forms a hillside at the edge of the Vagarasi, where the flat land begins to rise with the trees. Both its people and discoveries are quite remarkable.

The Vagarasi Vidhasta

The Vagarasi dig site is composed of the opening to the actual ruin itself, dug into the steepening hillside at the edge of the wood in the eastern Vagarasi, and three camps established around it with the help of nearby villagers. The first camp, closest to the dig site, in fact pretty much adjacent to the tunnel opening, contains the crew, including villagers who are helping out, and the academics studying the site – from there, the other camps are for the 13th Mobile Battlegroup “Coeurl,” there for security reasons, and for visitors of certain sorts. These camps at the edge of the hill have an impressive view of the vast, open plains stretching to the north and west, as well as the dark, hilly forest that encloses the eastern boundary.

With the help of villagers who have made an artform out of living in the wilderness for uncountable generations, comfortable tents and huts have been established, food is easily procured and prepared, and the site crew at Vagarasi Vidhasta is now living out of the land they work on. The camps have access to river water about an hour’s walk away to the west, or much shorter if a vehicle is driven there (usually when the crews need to take the machines for tune-up drives to keep them awake). The nearby villages of Manali and Nayak to the North and West respectively are supporters of the site. Many generations of both cultures have passed down down frightful legends of that dark hillside. They would do anything to, once and for all, put an end to the silent, subtle threat that their cultures see within the Vagarasi Vidhasta. As such, volunteers from the village help with the dirty work, and food, entertainment and religious service is held at the camp with their aid.

The primary tunnel splits in several directions, as workers carefully uncover artifacts, find ways into new rooms, and clean and support the walls of the new tunnels to prevent any further collapse. Only one complete room has been discovered, preserved with its entrances and exits, writing on the walls, and other chamber features fairly intact. The rest of the site’s “rooms” are tunnels dug through rubble that has collapsed and been smashed together, and over two thousand years has been compressed ever more by the surrounding land. Several of the rooms are overturned, as though they had been forced to slant or go upside-down during the collapse, and as such their tunnels lead deeper underground. The dig site is believed to have several strata, but the Expedition has only gone down one subterranean level so far. Most of the material dug through is dirt and rock, but the temple was concrete and steel. The artifacts found so far were well preserved in a low-air environment.

Factions: The Dig Site Crew

Composed of Academics and the people supporting them, the Points of Light academy established and sent the crew with the aid of the Andaliel Archeological Society after recent local culture surveys unearthed numerous legends and folklore about the Vagarasi Vidhasta. Such folk tales and legends are not easily dismissed in Adel, and the effort to follow them has already been vindicated many times over by the artifacts found in the dig site.

Below are some of the more interesting characters of the Dig crew.

Pravu Bangor: Head researcher of the Vagarasi Vidhasta for the Points of Light magical academy. Pravu is a Cuporo in his early forties, with stately looks despite his lacking physical stature. Like most Cuporo he wears his long hair freely, he is about five feet tall exactly, and his skin is a dark olive-like tone. He likes to see his entire effort in the Vagarasi as heroic, and legendary. He wears his academic decorations on his academy robes like a general’s badges. Myths will be made and songs sung about him, he thinks. But most of what he does might not be very relevant to bards. He examines artifacts, coordinates presentation, organization and disposal of artifacts, and casts a lot of spells on his tent to make it more comfortable.

Kala Aguda: Kala is the officer of the Andaliel Archeological Society overseeing the Vagarasi Vidhasta. He is a young and slight Droemedae, and unlike most Droemedae, he is not afraid to get his hands dirty, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. He has a pale complexion and similarly pale shoulder-length hair, and striking ice-blue eyes, that he wears eyeshadow and lipstick to compliment. Most Droemedae wear skin-tight bodysuits under their robes that also double as a kind of light armor, but Kala wears a dragonskin-armored shirt and pants, and no robes. His naturally effete appearance fools no one; Kala is a rugged and straightforward adventurer. He has been in and out of the tunnels numerous times, enough to have developed a mental map of the place. Unlike Pravu, he is not content to oversee from afar. He comes from a different culture than the other researchers after all – the archeological society is almost a militant order among research factions.

Kala and Pravu have a small distrust of one another despite partaking of this joint project. Both feel (with good reason) that the other is a glory hound, looking for the opportunity to snatch credit for all the work. Kala and Pravu have each requested that a team from their respective institutions be sent to “aid” them – an Archeological Society Expedition Group and a Research Team of Academy Mages respectively. Each hopes that the appearance of this outside group will enable them to exert more control over the project, and to have a wider scope in the social environment of the dig site. Perhaps some of the people sent can find a way to positively influence the Military types, or the villagers providing labor.

Karin Apuleius: Karin is Archivist-Diminutia, or secondary assistant, to Senatrix Alea Bhatnagar, representative of the Vagarasi in the Exalted Congress. She can be easily picked out by her robes, which are white, blue and green, the colors of the flag and the Exalted Congress. She is a common fox-eared Iomadi with light brown skin (“coffee-colored, like my mother’s produce” she likes to say) and amber eyes, and her dark hair in a shoulder-length bob.

Karin is representing the Exalted Congress, a high honor given to her mostly by the laziness of Senatrix Bhatnagar. Karin’s main role is to record the discoveries as well as perform her own investigations as to the origins and uses of the items, independent of the Points of Light and Archeological Society researchers. Her favorite thing to do is draw diagrams of the items. Much to Senatrix Bhatnagar’s chagrin, Karin likes to draw herself in all of her diagrams, often holding the items, or performing some kind of action with them, rather than just drawing the items alone. Karin’s other talents include magic, and her specialty is Photomancy, manipulating visible light to influence thought (illusions).

In the midst of the latent struggle between the Academy and the Archeological Society, Karin represents the distant power of the Exalted Congress. Ultimately she does not care which faction scores the most glory and credit for the discoveries in the site, so long as the work is done and the Republic in general benefits from it.

Claudette Dorje, Esquire: A young, blonde, fair-skinned and blue-eyed northern Iomadi, who tries to hide the fact that her wing-ears and fan-tail spirit markings are turkey feathers, by saying they belong to the Oomashan Cave Pheasant. She has her hair tied in a long braid, and her bright jackets and shawls and fancy robes make her obvious to spot.

She is feeling just a bit out of place in the southern climate, as shown by her constant sweating. Whether it is just the climate upsetting her or she’s developed some kind of fever is anyone’s guess – she’s not even gone into the tunnels once, or gone near the artifacts, but she bothers the medics on an almost daily basis about it.

Claudette is one of the sponsors of the Expedition. Her 100 Gold Dragon donation (equivalent of 1000 Copper Turtle coins, the price of a small but nice house or a nice personal yacht), and subsequent VIP trip to the site were done to impress a lady friend (whom she has a guarded romantic longing for). Claudette had hoped to use the trip not only to score intellectual credit with her, but also as a chance to propose marriage away from civilization. Her romantic intentions were foiled when her friend declined her invitation to the site, due to business concerns. Claudette traveled alone.

Despite the money she’s contributing, a lot of the crew finds her terribly annoying, as she’s constantly complaining and in a grotesque mood thanks to all the circumstances involved in her visit. The villagers love her though – she’s throwing around some decent money to get all kinds of negligible tasks done for her. However, Claudette has not been approached yet by any side looking for political points. Claudette is above those little games, and might even be dangerous for anyone bring into the squabbles, given her training as a lawyer, and proven apathy towards the contestants.

If necessary, Claudette is a rather able combatant, and has a pair of old flintlock dueling pistols.

Villagers: While there are quite a few villagers at the site, and all of them are different, we can look at a single one as an example of them. Indrani Magaram is a young male Iomadi, just out of his teens, with the ears and tail markings of the plains dogs common to his village, and has dark brown skin and eyes. He has shoulder-length red hair, neatly arranged with a headband, and is a lightly built and athletic kid. He has lived all his life near the northern wood with the Forager’s Circle of his village – a “circle” in a village is an arrangement of habitation that is convenient for a certain task.

However, the berries and insects Indrani collects are dwindling with the passing season, and as such, he has free time he has been devoting to helping at the dig site. Indrani has fetched water, made simple meals, carried heavy things, kept watch at night around the camp, and sang great songs and religious poetry at the site to inspire others. He has pitched a tent at the main crew camp, and been treated warmly by the researchers and even by the military for his help.

His main reason for volunteering was simply to see something different. Though he has worked hard at the site, he has seen and learned more things than many of the people in his village do in whole lifetimes. He is too timid to join the military, and too in love with the wilderness to ever follow the researchers back to the frozen city of Oomash from whence they hail. But he is amazed at the cultural notes he is exchanging with them, his distant siblings. The thought of helping to rid the world of the “demons” that his people believe are buried in the Vagarasi Vidhasta is also comforting.

There are villagers young and old, male and female, of all Adelian races helping out at the site, and for many it is a new and rejuvenating experience, that has something to add to their lives.

Dig Site Discoveries

As far as the crew knows, the Dig Site was once used as a “Temple of War” by the Lost World humans. Adelians have discovered many such structures, where the humans worshiped the concept of war itself (or at least that’s what the Adelians, in their ever religious mindset, think the humans did) and stored weaponry, and directed the great and sweeping battles that humans regularly performed. They know this site to be cursed, dangerous and evil. This location carries the blood of billions of lives taken by the people who commanded it, and the items stored in it, and must be tread upon with the utmost care.

Though the Expedition has so far only undergone a week and a half’s worth of labor, and some of it to set up the camp itself, they have already made some fascinating discoveries at the Vagarasi Vidhasta.

Silver Power: Silver Power was known to the humans as “Uranium” but the Adelians can’t really suss out the word very well in their translations. It is a silvery substance that sickens and kills people who come into contact with it. A standardized method of getting rid of Silver Power does not exist among the Adelians – some prefer to use magic wards to approach and then to get rid of it, while others have tried to make protective suits. Regardless, some quantities of the material have been found in the dig site, and already some folk have gotten sick, much to everyone’s dismay. Currently the Uranium is kept in a “puzzle box,”a four-layered safe designed specifically to hold things that are poisonous to be near. The people who have gotten sick are receiving comfort care and sick rest, and the Silver Sickness seems to be milder than the (rare) cases seen before.

Logic Engine: One of the most groundbreaking discoveries is a working logic engine, an ancient device that is communicated with using a series of character-buttons on its exterior, each of which, when pressed, brings a character up on the device’s glass face, allowing the hapless Adelian to attempt to spell out sentences in the Ancient Language. It is a human computer, though the Adelians would not call it that, as they have near to no understanding of what a computer is. Currently a small linguistics team, along with several armed guards, are attempting to interrogate the machine as to its origins and purpose. They know now that to communicate they have to type into the machine – they only spent a week trying to talk to it. Due to the inherent malevolence of all human machines, having never been blessed by the proper Adelian rites, and owing no loyalty to Adelian interests, Battlegroup Coeurl has orders to destroy it if it does anything fishy, but it seems harmless.

Ancient Landship: An exciting discovery for Battlegroup Coeurl, piece by piece an ancient Landship is being slowly unearthed and roughly put back together. It is a pattern that has been seen before, which the humans roughly referred to as an “Abraham tank.” The cannon found is roughly 25-ore, and numerous impressive-looking (but now derelict) internal systems have been identified, each for conducting the machine to its bloody purpose. Battlegroup Coeurl has no real authorization to do this, but they’re a bunch of bored Pioneers (Adel’s word for military engineers) and they see no harm in it. They’re somewhat aware that the thing could come back to life and start shooting, but it has no loaded munitions.

Ancient Books: While the Adelians have a passing awareness that a lot of human knowledge was kept in the immaterial spirits of machines, like the Logic Engines, humans also had books. Though many books were shredded or burnt during the chaos of the Cataclysm, several scattered pages and whole volumes have been found (loose pages of books are often referred to by Adelians as “scrolls”). The Vagarasi Vidhasta is already turning out a small collection of complete books, which are both seen as an amazing treasure, and dreaded for what mysterious and horrible details they might contain.

Factions: 13th Mobile Battlegroup “Coeurl”

“Armored Warfare” – the idea of using infantry and vehicles as a combined arms force – grew out of a necessity of the Intolerable War. The Aptoan Empire’s frightful human technologies could not be matched by throwing the weight of mortal lives against it. First autowagons, then Golems, and then Landships arose to meet the challenge.

The current topic of military debate is the concept of a “Mobile Battlegroup:” vehicles and their crews, and a small contingent of Pioneers and Grenadiers as support, rather than the brunt of the fighting force. Small experiments have occurred here and there, but most recently, the incredible performance of Vedaria’s Battlegroup “Baer” in the Cressian Civil War (War of Succession) has caused Andaliel to speed up their own little experiments with Mobile organization.

Of these experiments, Battlegroup Coeurl could be seen as the “B-Team.” They are not the most elite, and in fact, they only have a few vehicles to their name at Vagarasi – an unarmed digging Kasowari, a basic Jackal tank, and a basic Autowagon. However, they have recently been given the overwhelming honor of using a Direwolf tank.

Below are some of the more interesting Military characters.

Kishan Falana: Lieutenant Tank Commander for Battlegroup Coeurl. She has proudly declared the Direwolf to be her headquarters, and even put a tarp and a sandbag wall around it as a makeshift fortification, its cannon facing the dig site entrance. She did this mostly out of boredom, as the Direwolf is not a Command Variant.

She is a dragon Iomadi, with scaly protruding ears and a long lizard-like tail, both of which she claims come from crested geckos. Her hair is a bright orange like the scales on her spirit markings, her skin is a sandy tan, and her eyes are amber.  She is broad shouldered, fairly tall and a little plump. On her uniform is the decoration of her rank, and a single red tear, the Andalian decoration for a battle wound. If pressed she will mention that she survived a crossbow bolt after stepping out of her tank during a raid on a bandit hideout. It’s a mistake that still bothers her a little to this day.

Though energetic at first, the realities of the dig project have eroded her spirit. Battlegroup Coeurl is composed of vehicle crews (about ten people: 3 in the Direwolf, 3 in the Jackal, 2 for the Autowagon, 1 mage piloting the Kasowari, and herself), five grenadiers and five pioneers. They are a very small group, restructured half into oblivion after Andaliel involved itself with the North Arctic lands and the archipelago in the Eastern Sea. Now she has the Pioneers working with the dig site crew and providing camp security, and her few grenadiers protecting the expeditions into the tunnels. She is pressured every day for manpower she simply cannot deliver, and would greatly appreciate a helping hand.

Kishan collects postcards of both male and female Geisha from Emderuer, and some of them decorate the inside of the Direwolf. She will pay or barter well for new postcards or other Geisha-inspired collectibles.

Sharma Birnale: Sharma is a grenadier for Coeurl. He is a Damakran, and his spirit markings are his brown spotted skin and fish fin ears and tail, belonging to dark surgeon fish. He has bags under his dark eyes eyes from lack of sleep, and his brown skin has taken a sickly blanched coloration. He can be found lying in a bed in the sick tent, sometimes with a villager designated as the medic assistant for that day. He has dark hair to about ear length in a messy, swept bob. He wears robes, rather than his uniform, so that his body is more accessible when doing checkups, and also for comfort.

He was injured in the last expedition into the tunnel. As such, one of the guard Pioneers is taking his place in the next excursion (if no outside volunteers can be found). He feels somewhat ashamed of himself for having been taken out in battle, and his depression is slowing his recovery, and perhaps making him even more ill. He was shot through the leg with an arrowlance bolt, and thankfully the infection was minor and his injuries treated in time.

Thanks to all the hubbub at Vagarasi Vidhasta, Sharma is often alone. People come and go to check up on him and bring him food, but those who would really talk to him and comfort him, his fellow soldiers, are all busy elsewhere, and can only visit him at night, when he is too tired to really enjoy their company. This has only made him sadder.

Biwal Katkar: Biwal is a Pioneer for Coeurl.  He has shoulder length, slightly swept-up dark hair and tanned skin, and green eyes. He dyes a little purple streak in his hair for fun. His Iomadi spirit marking a lynx, and he has fluffy ears and a short tail. His uniform tends to be a little out of place, with the collar disheveled and buttons undone. He always seems to be smiling, as though he has something nice or relaxing on his mind, and whistles while working.

He’s one of the rotating Pioneer guards who also works on the ancient Landship. He took the measurements of the cannon, and has requested doing a shot test to see if it is actually functional and could a pose a threat, but has been denied, since Lt. Falana believes the shot test itself could give the Landship an opportunity for treachery. Biwal is excited about the ancient Landship, as he often is around machines. He first wanted to become a Pioneer when he went for a ride on an autowagon as a child. Still, he has proper Adelian sensibilities about machines, especially ancient, cursed human ones. He has proper respect and distrust of the Abraham tank, and doesn’t let his excitement get the best of him.

His most treasured possessions are letters from his boyfriend back in Impel, a city quite to the North of Vagarasi. He looks out for new mail every day, and enjoys writing lovey-dovey letters. He is very close to serving his initial three-year term with the army, after which he plans to become a Guard in Impel and ask his boyfriend to marry him.

He visits Sharma whenever he can, even though he doesn’t know him very well. Most of his day is spent either patrolling the camp, or tinkering with the Abraham. He has some suspicions about some of the characters around the visitor’s camp, but he hasn’t reported them, as he feels it would just cause trouble for the visitors or Falana.

Dig Site Equipment

Pravasti Autowagon: Autowagon technology rose shortly after the discovery of the arcane engine. The autowagon was the first object that an arcane engine was attached to – it would’ve been convenient, after all, to be able to drive a wagon without horses to care for. The autowagon presented its own set of problems, including fuel, poor maneuverability compared to its theoretical speed, and having to train drivers, who occupy the back of the wagon and manage the engine, and use mirrors (and sometimes directions from the passengers) to steer. The Pravasti is the common Autowagon in Andaliel, manufactured at the northern village of the same name. It is used to fetch water and to carry supplies bought locally.

Kasowari “Tunnel Rat”: The Kasowari is a military bipedal golem walker with cannons mounted on its face, but of late, a few “civilian-models” have been trickling out at a snail’s pace from northern villages historically known for their shipbuilders, which have adopted more advanced projects since the end of the Intolerable War. The “Tunnel Rat” variant of the Kasowari is the only vehicle that fits into the Vagarasi Vidhasta tunnels, particularly because it was the machine that dug the original tunnels in the first place, before labor moved in to erect support structures and smooth out the work. The Tunnel Rat has a large drill on its face operated by the arcane engine. Like most golems, it requires a Mage pilot.

Jackal Light Landship: Adelians discovered landship technology from ancient ruins sites, and as is their way, they have slowly discovered ways of realizing the technology that are acceptable to them. The Jackal is a lightweight landship based on ancient human Tanks, with continuous tracks and a small cannon. It is modestly fast for a landship and has better armor and weapons than the very lightweight Autowagon. It is used to help fetch water.

Direwolf “Giant Hunter” Heavy Landship: The heaviest landship of the Adelian army, a Direwolf was attached to the dig site’s defense contingent. The Giant Hunter variant has a 50-ore cannon, the largest cannon that can be mounted on non-naval vehicles, and the one cannon most notable in its ability to deal harm to even the largest monsters encountered in Adel, from Archdemons to massive Ancient Dragons, to other heavy landships. Its purpose at the site is unknown, and it is hardly ever used at the dig site. Perhaps it is only there to intimidate potential threats.

Factions: The Infiltrators

Ancient sites attract not only Adelians wanting to be rid of all the things inside them, but other more unscrupulous groups and creatures who wish to use the artifacts found there for their own ends. Because of the 13th mobile battlegroup, and the environment of the dig site, directly attacking the site is simply too difficult. Both groups bent on the riches of the site use infiltration as their main tactic, posing as villagers and visitors.

Below are the leaders of the two groups of Infiltrators.

Dorothea Aaliyah: Dorothea is a “Steam Sister” of the Diesel Society, a small and radical pro-machine, pro-industrialization movement in Adel. Dorothea has studied the Ancient Language of humans and knows a lot about them, or at least, she thinks she does. She’s read descriptions of machines that could make medicine on a whim, or transport thousands of tons of goods across cities in mere hours, or store as much information as all the Adelian academies and then instantly display it to people all over the world. These wonders come with a harsh reality that she ignores.

Though she prefers to dress in suits and pants and wear her society Goggles, she is instead wearing a robe. She has her dark hair tied up in a bun, and her pale skin is rosy from the heat. She is a northern Iomadi, with the markings of a snow fox, and unused to the south. She would much rather be back in the big city, the capitol Oomash.

Dorothea is at the camp posing as a third party linguist. She demonstrated such a knowledge of the language, that many of the younger linguists in the camp, eager to impress Pravu, have been confirming their findings with her so that they can be fully prepared when presenting them in front of him, and score points with him. As such, she has had access to many of the books and findings on the camp, and best of all, in complete secrecy.

The Diesel Society has a few other people in the camp, each looking for opportunities to sabotage Coeurl, and perhaps make off with something of value from the Expedition. The recently discovered ancient Landship would be an incredible prize for the Diesel Society, and would surely earn Dorothea “Grandmaster” status should she secure it. But doing so would be very difficult. She could sneak around and activate it at night, but spirits only know if the ancient systems are still functional, and if movement is even possible. She’s waiting and watching the Pioneer group working on the Landship.

She has a strange, goofy-looking steam pistol hidden in her coat, that is prone to jams or outright exploding when fired, and probably is more useful to club someone with than actually shoot.

Rahasya: A long-haired young man dressed in a very covering robe and hood, Rahasya claims and appears to be a Iomadi, but nobody can really confirm. He claims his heavy dress to be comfortable and traditional even in this climate, and Adelians are not ones to challenge another person’s cultural proclivities, given all the uncountable village cultures and their many traditions. Though eccentric, nobody really considers him a threat or suspicious.

Rahasya, however, is actually a Wasman mimic Angel, dressed to hide some of the hasty manufacturing that has resulted in his red Angel eye-core being placed on his chest, rather than hidden in his body. He practices shoddy fortune telling in the visitor’s camp, something common for Adelians to see on the road. What he’s really doing is sizing up the mood of the camp, and trying to discover any information he can feed back wirelessly to the Angels in the lower strata. Already he has given information that has resulted in the injury of a grenadier and a few workers at the hands of Angels.

The Angels on the site, mostly basic exopoda spider-walkers, have been attempting to rebuff Adelian incursions, first through manufactured accidents, and lately, with actual attacks, which the 13th Mobile Battlegroup prepares to counteract. The Angels are armed with arrowlances, and though few, they are hoping they might be able to pick off the mortals if they continue to receive prior notice and other details about their upcoming attacks through Rahasya.

Dig Site Plotlines

•The Direwolf: Why did the 13th Mobile Battlegroup bring along a huge Direwolf landship? Or, perhaps it is more prescient to ask, why even attach the 13th Mobile Battlegroup to a simple dig site? The answer is that the Adelian military believes the dig site is the home of a sleeping Colossus Angel, a massive and powerful human machine. Should it awaken, it will need to be challenged quickly, and only a Direwolf has the weaponry to do it. However, as with many Adelian machines, the Direwolf is in limited supply, manufactured and blessed with rituals and obeisances that can only ever be performed to extremely exacting specifications. As such, only one of them can be released to meet this potential foe. The more elite mobile battlegroups are engaged elsewhere, and out of many “B-Team” groups, the 13th was chosen to rise to this challenge.

Unfortunately, aside from Tank Commander Falana, nobody in the 13th knows about this, or can know. It is extremely classified, and panic cannot be risked at the dig site, or for the neighboring villages.

•The Logic Engine: What mysteries does this machine contain within its ancient circuitry? For starters, and the Adelians are unlikely ever to find this out, Logic Engines are all partially biological. Some of the material that goes into making their CPUs was bio-engineered by humans. They are in essence engineered cyborg brains trapped in boxes. Adelians are likely to be greatly disgusted by this, but they have no way of knowing. What they can find out, is that the Logic Engine was once attached to a human missile launch site. The site still exists – and there’s still one nuke in it. The Adelians could send the missile flying away, but this is easy for them to screw up when they know so little about computers.

•A Cursed Place: Everybody suspects that this place was the site of countless human atrocities, taking place in the Lost World and its Lost Time. Nobody quite knows the full history of the place, or its repercussions on the current world. How befouled is the site? There is no one at the dig site with strong religious authority, that can help to navigate the wickedness that might be infesting the place. The presence of a traveling oblate or other religious source would be welcomed.

•Intrigues: With all the different factions and characters at the dig site, information is not exactly freely shared. The Archeological Society and the Academy don’t trust each other fully; the military and congressional forces together wish to have control of the site for everyone’s safety; the villagers are usually kept in the dark as to what they’re doing or handling, happy as they are to help be rid of the Vagarasi Vidhasta for good. Each faction would enjoy having some means to spy on or influence the others in their favor, that is not so completely and obviously attached to them.

•Infiltrators: The 13th Mobile Battlegroup is unaware of just how compromised their security is. They’ve got the Diesel Society AND Angels mucking about in or around the site, and Andaliel’s security at the site is composed of soldiers, not secret agents or super detectives. They’re not trained for sniffing out these kinds of threats, and could definitely use outside help in identifying and eliminating these sore spots before anything important is compromised.

The Church of Arclinne: One of the more popular, almost common, forms of cult worship are the churches. Every “church” or “temple” is already a cult, as most Adelians worship alone or in small groups at open shrines. During the Aptoan period, the Empire built larger and more ornate shrine structures to showcase their power and wealth. These were often constructions that needed people to look after and maintain them, lest they quickly fall to the elements – nature does not inherently respect art. The communities of people that grew around these structures effectively became the first churches, establishing the water and food supply, housing and other amenities needed to gather around these shrines and protect them. They would shepherd visitors and teach them about the shrines and the spirits to which they were dedicated, and they would look after and train new generations of shrine caretakers, establishing hierarchy. The church structures grew from this.

Out of all the possible cults that arose from this, the Church of Arclinne is the most relatively common and popular. Arclinne is the Iomadi matron spirit of love and community. It is said that from her teachings the social politics of the villages were established, along with the strong sense of collective ownership and neighborly duty that Adelian villagers and townsfolk grow up on. If one sees a traveling oblate, he or she is likely to be part of the cult of Arclinne. Her cult is known for helping solve disputes, endorsing peace and love of all peoples within the community, legitimizing oaths of marriage, and helping the sick. They are also known for having romantic ideas about free love, and very rarely, polyamory (not polygamy).

As with most churches, her cult wears special robes, dark with a colored trim, and a broad neck opening and an ornate sash. This unique garb allows anyone to tell an Oblate apart. Advanced oblates are also told apart by their clothing – after earning a unique gold-collared shirt, the collar of which peeks out from the neck opening, the oblate has advanced to clerical status. Those wearing a cassock instead are the Archclerics, tasked with passing wisdom to the next generation.

The Church of Arclinne is only one example. In Sargasso for example, which sees much more rain than the rest of the continental Adel and has many rivers, the Church of Rashine is somewhat more prevalent. Meanwhile the worship of Inunkuru is often more common among wealthy elitists, who fantasize about the heroic quality of their status.

The Droemedae Cult: Unlike most Adelians, the Droemedae did not take up the worship of Spirits until some five hundred years ago or so, when they came into contact with Adelian civilization. And even when they did, they only incorporated it into their actual religion. Droemedae are the only Adelians who practice a different sort of religion from everyone else, which is known as the Hive Cult. The Droemedae worship what they consider the power of Life, which they believe to be intrinsically tied to female biology. This is part of the reason that even Droemedae males usually dress and style themselves in ways that an outside observer might characterize as female – it is part of their worship. For the Droemedae, whose Hives are ruled by biologically-selected Queens, the feminine is sacred, the origin of logic, community, peace, and of life.

Sacred feminine is not the only part of Droemedae worship, only the root. It could be said that in general Droemedae worship biology. Their veneration is to live, their rituals are to cleanse themselves, to take care of their bodies, to expel pollutants. Droemedae become very distraught and miserable when sick or grievously hurt – their body, their temple to the power of life and biology, has been ruined. However, puzzlingly, a Droemedae that loses an arm or leg doesn’t feel it is the end of the world, as long as the cuts are sewn shut, and once the infections are staved off. Health is what matters.

Droemedae are sometimes wrongly characterized as “worshiping themselves,” perhaps because the nuance of how they live is a little puzzling to Adelians. Droemedae knew little about Spirits until the Adelians introduced them to the concept, and now they adhere to spirit worship as well. But they believe the very fact of their existence is a subject that requires contemplation and thanks. What is more grand a subject to worship, than the very power of life itself?

The Dragon Cult: Practiced mostly in the Dragon Kingdom of Oerst, but sometimes seen around continental Adel as well, Dragons are worshiped as though they were Spirits – which they aren’t. Dragons are seen as beings of incredible power, alongside which Adelians can form more just and safe societies. Dragons in Oerst often adopt an (often grandiose) humanoid form for most of their lives, only preferring their dragon forms to defend themselves or travel overland, as a sign of their compact with the people of Oerst. Oerst is ruled by bonded pairs of Dragon and Adelian rulers – the King and Queen are a Dragon and an Adelian with equal status, and all aristocrats must make a bonded pair with a dragon to be legitimate, chosen at adolescence (but often coming into contact prior to that, in order to grow more fond of each other’s presence).

This treatment is quite different from that practiced by most of Adel, who see Dragons as magical animals or sometimes as monsters of legend, characterized as greedy and eccentric (this is not too far from the mark, albeit Oersian Dragons tend to be nicer about it), and tread carefully around them. The duality of Dragons as mortal equals but also as divine individuals is poorly understood by most Adelians, but to the Oersians it need not even be thought about. They just respect and live with dragons, and allow them a great say in government, while praying for a more prosperous union.

This year saw some jet-lag from the previous, as I had moved away from blogging about D&D 4th Edition, which was one of the things the blog was founded to do, and decided instead to do my own thing, and focus on world building, story writing and other “fluff.” This was a difficult transition and I probably lost many readers as I shifted focus, but I think it was for the best. I felt like I didn’t have much more to say about 4e. It went from being like the one game I’d play, to just something else I do. I didn’t “lead the D&D lifestyle” like a lot of other bloggers seemed to do, I wasn’t keeping up with it. When readers asked about D&D Encounters and D&D Insider and stuff like that, I couldn’t give them an answer. I felt that what I was doing wasn’t really useful anymore, and that I just didn’t have anything to say in the D&D space anymore. I started wanting to do my own thing and write stuff without any constraints or preset expectations.

I plan to try new writing projects. I had a lot of fun writing those two adventure scenarios I did on the blog and hope to do more, maybe once a month. I’m also definitely going to keep working on and release my homebrew Expedition RPG system before Spring time. My main writing love has always been fiction. I like fiction of all sorts, and I just completed my bachelor’s degree in English, with a focus on British Literature and Early American (mostly African American) literature. I want to write the kind of stories I want to see written, about characters, events and ideals that I don’t see very often. It was the mission statement of my homebrew setting to write a setting with elements I don’t normally see and with a level of introspection that is normally looked down upon as unnecessary. I hope to expand this world into fiction with more or less that same mission, doing things that I want to see done.

As far as stats are concerned, according to WordPress I received in the neighborhood of 40,000 unique visitors this year. I think that’s not so bad for such a niche blog, after shifting from talking about the 1000 lb Gorilla of RPGs to talking about a fictional fox-eared people’s views of gender and sexuality, and how they have tanks but they’re not really pervasively technologically advanced because their religion leads them to venerate the simple pastoral life of socialistic farming communes. That’s a set of subjects that are niches within niches, so I’m satisfied. I got to write what I want to, and what I love to write, and a core of readers has been engaged by it.

The top posts for the year, according to stats, in order from 1st to 5th place:

Worldbuilding Diary Introduction: This post got huge traction from being replied to by Bartoneus from Critical Hits. So I’m not surprised to seeing it at the top. I explained some of my methodology for worldbuilding, using World of Adel as the example, and laying out the elements that I consciously thought about as I wrote for it. I’m glad it was such a hit and I hope it brought some attention to the stuff I tend to do on this site.

This is also the only post past 2009 that made it into the list. No post from 2010 was on the top five posts list. Most of it was from 2009, the peak of my D&D 4e blogging years. But at least it’s number 1!

My Top 10 D&D Monsters: Placing at number 2, this was basically a filler post I wrote one week! It has had a ton of staying power, mostly because it deals with D&D and opinions, always sure to drive hits.

It’s a very common gaming subject to ask what your favorite monster/race/spell/thing from D&D is. Nonetheless I’m surprised it got enough hits to be the solid number 2 on the list.

Character Archetype Terms You Never Heard Of: This one is probably on top because of the constant searches for “what is a tsundere?” I’m an anime fan and so I know all these terms, and of course when gaming with other anime fans, and even non-fans, I’ve dropped characters in like that. It’s pretty fun.

Also this was back when I thought that hiding humor titles in the URL that were not the same as the actual post title was humorous, and totally not annoying and troublesome for people. Sorry.

Monster Mash, MM2 Review Part 2: The monster manual reviews have been some of the most well-trafficked posts on the site. I’ve been trying to revitalize the series (twice) to no avail. I don’t really have it in me anymore to go through the monster vault or monster manual 3 and comment on every monster again. Still, it was nice to finally finish the original series and people really, really liked it. I do wish I had the energy for another one.

I wonder why part 2 is the most popular though. I guess it has SUPERIOR SEO.

Wyatt And Friend’s 4e Houserules: The oldest post on the list, which pre-dates even this blog (I cross-posted it from my first blog, when this blog came online). This one is from 2008, and has had huge staying power, pretty much making the top ten or top five posts every single year. I guess people really like 4e houserules!

So it’s 2012, and I’ve got six months of vacation before Graduate School. I hope I can make them count, and that you can come along for the ride. I hope that in this year, I’ll interact with you, the reader, more than before, and with other bloggers on their blogs as well. I hope to engage, interest and mystify you more than ever before, and that 2012 will be a huge year for the Spirits of Eden and for everyone who’s been a fan, or will be a fan.

Thank you all so much for your support, and here’s to a healthy new year!

With that, however, I have some less joyous news. I’ll probably not post any new articles to this blog until after new years. I’m sort of dry on article inspiration. (If you have any ideas for World of Adel stuff you’d like to see me write, drop a comment, or email me, or I’m available on Twitter, or whatever way you wish to communicate it.) I will return after new year’s with a retrospective post collecting my favorite articles of the year, then another retrospective post with the most-read articles based on my stats, and then perhaps some product reviews, as I try to get back in the worldbuilding groove.

So have a happy new year’s week everyone, and be safe.

I often wish that I had something more grandiose planned on these occasions, but all I can write is this little post, saying that it’s your support that keeps me motivated, and I think 2012 is going to be great for us. You all saved my Christmas with your kindness. Thank you for your comments, thank you for linking from other blogs or social media, thank you for any donations you’ve given, thank you for using the affiliate links, or any other form of support you’ve shown. I can promise you that I will keep writing well past 2012, and I hope you will keep reading.

Animal Spirits

Unlike “normal” Spirits, the Clan Spirits are quite animal-like. They are more “animal with human traits” than “human with animal traits.” Most Clan Spirits are just larger animals that can speak and grasp objects, and wear clothing. Some Clan Spirits are like humanoids with animal faces – snouts, strange eyes, whiskers and all. Their forms will vary depending upon their history and professions within the clan. Typically, the more legendary, illustrious and popular an animal Spirit, the more humanoid it is. Many younger animal spirits wish to perform great deeds in order to grow into people.

Animal Spirits are not to be confused with the actual animals, though Animal Spirits can talk to, and often shelter and employ, the normal animals they are associated with. Animal Spirits are much less numerous in general than their normal counterparts, and even the dumbest Animal Spirit possesses a level of humanoid intellect. According to the Animal Spirits, they owe their ascension to the Sun-Circle in the sky, the warming light under which Adelians prospered. Only animals that can reach for the Sun become Animal Spirits, they say, though this myth is left only half-explained. As such, Animal Spirits often adorn themselves with depictions of the Sun, and are summoned by using a circle symbolizing the Sun.

Summoners

The items needed to summon an animal spirit are both not terribly exotic but also not always common. To start with, each clan’s summoning spell has a certain recipe that the summoner most know. Often it is this bit of knowledge which eludes the common folk and prevents them from calling for aid, and some summoners guard this knowledge jealously – though if one chances upon an Animal Spirit, he or she might part with the recipe in exchange for a little favor.

Once the ingredients to the ritual are known, it must be cast in a summoning circle. The circle is drawn as the shape of a sun (known as the Suryagram), with four branches as though compass arrows shaped like triangular Prominences, called “Perisolars.” After drawing the Perisolars, another, smaller circle is drawn within the original Suryagram circle in order to divide it into two circles called “Mesosolars.” The recipes involve placing certain ingredients in certain Perisolars (East, West, North, South) and within the Mesosolars (Core Mesosolar, Coronal Mesosolar). Once the ingredients are properly located, the clan name, or the name of a specific clan individual, can be spoken, and the creature can appear voluntarily. It is impossible to summon someone who does not want to be summoned, but the spell can at least send them a message.

Certain ingenious mages, such as the genius of Bhashra Zuri Makavana, craft items which have the solar circle and certain ingredients stuck unto them, to summon an animal anywhere. It is easiest to do this with the Insect, Crow and Drake clans, for which the summoning recipe only involves solid objects such as certain ores, coins and materials. It is hardest to do this with the Dog, Cat and Fish clans which require perishable goods to be burnt up in the Suryagram.

Once the summoning is complete, negotiations often begin, though if a problem is urgent enough the Animal may have to save his or her summoner’s hide (and his or her own) before being able to negotiate anything.

Honorary Animals

Of the various animal spirits, Nine of the Animal Clans advance themselves by allowing mortals to contract them for aid. A mortal that wishes to join a clan can perform a task or quest after meeting a representative of it. If successful, the mortal can become an Honorary Animal of the clan: so for example, a Iomadi that completes the Rat Clan’s task and gains their favor becomes an Honorary Rat. This is a title, not an actual physical change, though some Adelians who feel like it wear some kind of identifier of their clan, such as using transformative magic to change their ears to resemble that of their animal clan, or wearing a hat that calls attention to their status. An Honorary member of a clan has more access to illustrious members of that clan than just any other summoner would, and is given priority and resources when he or she asks for help, over other summoners or supplicants. The Honorary member, however, must promise to feed and be kind to the clan’s animals for his or her life. So an Honorary Rat must never kill a rodent, and must feed whatever rodents he or she finds in need.

The Crow Clan

Caw! Known for thinking and tinkering! Caw! No not thieving! Caw! Definitely not!

Cunning, mischievous and daring, the Crow Clan are often the patrons and aides of mages and artificers, who summon them for second opinions, consultation, and technical aid. The Crow clan greatly enjoy the sleek and the new, and are often inventing and refining things nobody has even dreamed of – things even they themselves usually can’t explain well, and even more often can’t employ at all. Aside from artisans many of the Crows are also philosophers and scholars. They love debating new ideas and new systems and theories, often with little to no practical application. The Crow Clan values honoraries who are intelligent, regardless of their other merits (or lack thereof). They have a reputation for thievery of all forms, be it of property, of ideas, of quotations; it is said a Crow will steal practically anything if it will get a leg up on a rival that way.

The Rat Clan

Hey! Hey! Hey! Can’t we just forget my deservedly bad reputation for a bit?

Energetic, underhanded and cowardly, the Rat Clan are eyes and ears everywhere one would want them. The bosses of the Rat clans are known as “Dons” and they trade in cloaks and daggers. Valued by the unscrupulous for information and thievery, and sometimes even infiltration and assassination, the Rats in turn want their Honoraries to do favors, and to ask no questions about them. If you can’t work for the Don, then you had better pay the Don a hefty tribute for his precious time. However, most of the Rat clan, even most of the Dons, are meek at heart, ready to bolt when things go south. Rat clan soldiers and brigands only fight if they fear their leadership more than they fear their enemy, and can be hard to motivate to action.

The Frog Clan

Ribbb. We’re a veritable fountain of wisdom here. But first – a nap.

Slow and seemingly sleepy, the Frog clan are greatly in tune with the rhythm of the world, and can hear life itself whisper whenever they meditate – or so they say. The Frog Clan is a favorite of oblates and deeply religious folk, who seek after wisdom and enlightenment, bettering themselves through pacifism, meditation, yoga, and other spiritual arts practiced and preached by the Frog clan. The Frog Clan is one of the easier clans to keep satisfied. They require few boons, and want only to see their honoraries become better, wiser people. Daredevil action means very little to them.

The Insect Clan

Bzzt. There’s nothing we can’t do. Bzzt. If paid well enough.

Terse and unfriendly, the Insect clan are industrious, greedy and fairly suspicious of everyone they meet. They have a reason to be – insects are the bottom of the food chain after all, heavily eaten by the Adelians and by much of the animal kingdom. The Insect Clan knows it is unreasonable to ask that insects not be killed by honoraries. Instead they only ask that the honorary refrain from eating insects, a common food for Adelians. The Insect Clan are soldiers and workers, and the only thing they value is pay. Their mercenary nature makes them a somewhat popular clan for the lazy summoner who needs bodyguards and labor and has treasure to burn in getting it. Food and gold are the only gods acknowledged by the Insects.

The Cat Clan

Fate has brought you herrrr at a prrrfect time. Ourrr meeting was furrrtold.

Mysterious and often inscrutable, the Cat Clan keeps a smiling face even as it doles out terrible news. The Cat Clan are known for divination and the esoteric arts. They are often the partners of diviners, telemeters, astrologers and others who want greater insight into things unknown – the mortal mind, mortal fate, and mortal secrets. Whether by turning cards, throwing dice, casting paw into a pond or inhaling hallucinogenic substances, the Cats can glean insight from the mystical. A Cat does not usually glean a whole truth, but it also never tells a total lie.

The Dog Clan

Ruff! I’d be more than happy to help! Rrr. We’ll have a great time!

Loyal and reliable, the Dog clan are somewhat childish animal spirits who strive to spread happiness and do good out of the kindness of their hearts. Dogs value all kinds of people, so much so they can sometimes be tricked into doing bad things just out of the sheer misplaced trust that they will place on an impressive summoner. Dogs are best suited for athletic work, though they are not as strong as the brutish Drakes. They’re not all that cut out for intellectual labor, and magic flies right over their heads. They are fairly cheap to hire, wanting only food, fun and a suitably impressive task to accomplish.

The Fish Clan

Glub. You don’t need arms and feet to count nothin’. Glub. I’ll have yer numbers.

The Fish Clan can breathe air, though they still prefer to be in water, and are a fin-dragging bunch who know money and the trends of money better than anyone else. Fish have presided over the economy since the beginning of Adel, or so they claim. The first currencies of Adel came from the sea – the tribal Adelians of the first millennium used seashells and fish as commodities to trade with their neighbors. The Fish clan can be called upon by a summoner to deduce trends, to inspect goods, and to tally wealth. They also know the tax codes of every nation, though how is anyone’s guess. Of course, they are also fairly good fighters and athletes in their own environment, and can aid in the exploration of the sea.

The Drake Clan

Ssst. I can handle any task not involving thinking of any sort. Hate that stuff.

Brutish and stubborn, the Drake clan contain the small lizards as well as the seemingly out of place Drakes (Adelian word for dinosaurs) that inhabit the land. Drakes outright detest complexity and have contempt of mages and scholars, unless they shut up and let the Drake smash things. Drakes want battle and mayhem, and though they’ll accept jobs to patrol areas or guard people, they will grow restless for a good scrap if kept out of the fray for long. They are the most physically and martially competent animals, but they can be unreliable, and are often ignorant to any sort of tactics.

The Finch Clan

I see, a poet, cheep! How magnificent, oh how I can feel the velvet voice already!

Grandiose and creative, the Finches represent songbirds everywhere and are the companions of bards and poets, of singers and writers, of painters and performers. They act as muse and artist all in one. Violence does not suit them – though their silver tongues and fast wings can get them out of such troubles. What they truly want out of honoraries or summoners is a glorious artistic vision, something beautiful and inspiring to behold and be a part of. Whether it appeal to tradition or grasp for a bold new trend, the Finches wish to nurture it, and perhaps, in their own songs and legends, to be able to say they were a part of it, and claim partial credit for all the songs sang and the portraits painted in Adel.